wow. i was walking into a local branch of the seattle library and the smell of this vine was powerful. lilac? jasmine? spring is definitely here.

Today I went into Supergenius Tattoo to see my tattoo artist Jeff Cornell. I want to get another piece on me by him before I move to New York City. I’m thinking about seaweed. It continues the idea from my other arm’s tree. The tree is strong, stable, provides shelter, gives life, etc. And seaweed is similar. There are forests of seaweed, is provides shelter for fish, and life as food. I also live the branching web of seaweed. Its a common thread with me as I also like the branches of Winterhazel. We talked and he let me look through a book called “Art Forms in Nature”. It was amazing. All kinds of illustrations of nature done in a very classic way.

So I came home and did some research. Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature) is a book of lithographic and autotype prints by German biologist Ernst Haeckel. Originally published in sets of ten between 1899 and 1904 and as a complete volume in 1904, it consists of 100 prints of various organisms, many of which were first described by Haeckel himself.

I definitely see an interpretation of something from his book now on me. I do want Jeff’s own artistic take and not a straight copy. I found a German site which has his entire originally published book “Art Forms in Nature” scanned and available. Its been 70 years since Haeckel’s death so the images are now in the public domain. I’ve downloaded the whole book and really look forward to looking at them all.

Ooah, on the left, is a favorite music producer and DJ of mine. He’s in the glitch, glitch-hop, and IDM realm. He’s got a solo and group career; also associated with The Glitch Mob. For my show “4 Seasons” in March 2007, I brought up The Seedling Escape (Ooah and Kitty-D). Great performance. So, I just read that Ooah has a new mix out and I’m listening now. Thumbs-up! Get it while the gettin’s good.

My good friends Maryam and Nima are Persian. And I recently helped them with their Norooz Persian New Year celebration. On Norooz, the New Year’s day, families dress in their new clothes and start the twelve-day celebrations by visiting the elders of their family, then the rest of their family and finally their friends. On the thirteenth day families leave their homes and picnic outdoors. So tonight, I’m visiting Maryam and Nima at their home to be a part of their celebration.

I’m expecting to see the Haft Sîn table, a major part of Norooz. The table includes seven items specific starting with the letter S or Sîn in Persian alphabet). The items symbolically correspond to seven creations and holy immortals protecting them. Traditionally, families attempt to set as beautiful a Haft Sîn table as they can, as it is not only of traditional and spiritual value, but also noticed by visitors during Norooz visitations and is a reflection of their good taste.

I can look…but not touch.

saw this walking by the store hot topic. simple dumb and fucking hilarious!

Yesterday, I had a good talk with Rod. Rod is a friend that now lived in NYC. He gave me all kinds of tips. To help me, he described it as three spokes:

1. Housing He recommends that I sublet for 3 months a furnished place located in Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, Tribeca, East/West Village. Pack a suitcase and bring very little because it is temporary. Then from this home base, I can get my bearings in Manhattan and learn it and the boroughs. This is the same advice that Kelly gave me last week. I’m seeing some wisdom here. He said once I’m there that I won’t have a problem finding a living situation that I want. There is such variety in the city in people, places, and opportunities.
2. Job He said it is no worry for me not to have a job. Since its a 24×7 city, people are always somewhere doing something. So I won’t lack for people or interaction if I don’t take a job in those three months.
3. Dating He said the variety of people is stellar. Every look, age, race, color, interest. Friends, sex-only buddies, boyfriends, partners, and other types that I don’t even know about. Wow, this sounds great.

I also chatted with another friend, Matt, that lives here in Seattle. I’m exploring ways to keep my rental properties here while learning more about NYC and if I want to purchase something there. So we spoke about he being the property manager for me here. He was very interested and I was also. Now I need to do some more financial work including tax planning. Fun. Weeee.

I was up late last night doing my taxes. Still. My Uncle Cecil woke me up early asking how I was. Then he handed me over to my Aunt Ann. You see, I had dropped an email to my Aunt a few days back. They had recently moved to Florida from Alabama and I wasn’t sure if the address was correct. So they were calling me to see what was up. I told them I was moving and like everyone else they were excited for me and sure that I would love it.

I also got an email back from a nice guy named Chase that I met through Bob. He’s lived in New York City for maybe a decade and I wanted to touch base with him on any advice me might share. He was nice to reply and offered to give me some guidance.

[Update: Turns out that from his demonstrated lack of action, Chase had no intention of sharing any advice. And I gave him a bed in my house to sleep overnight in Seattle. Sheesh. Seems like him and Bob have a common trait of deciding not to do something without telling the other person. Bob would do that and I wasn't very compatible with it.]

And the rest of the day was spent finishing my taxes. Still. I’ve got several questions for my CPA queued up and I’m waiting to hear back when she gets in on Monday.

And of all crazy things. My Pioneer plasma died today. It was the first HD plasma made in the US; back in 1999. Yes, I was extremely bleeding edge and, yes, it was crazy expensive back then. The timing of it dying really sucks. Its a little too far away from when I move to NYC. I don’t know if I’m man enough to be without TV or movies at home for three months. That’s a long time. But, I don’t want to buy a new plasma because I’m moving and won’t take it with me. Seems kinda crazy to buy one for only 2-3 months. Any ideas anyone?

My grandmother, I call her Mama, is doing well. She lives in Alabama and had knee replacement surgery on 20 March 2007. She’s off the morphine now so it hurts a lot but she’s got a great spirit. We talked probably 30 minutes, which is kinda short for us. We both love to talk about all kinds of stuff. Today, she asked how I was and quickly asked if I was thinking of moving. Either she’s amazingly insightful or my Aunt Carol told her. Probably the former because my Mama is brilliant and wise. She was excited for me and said, “I was wondering if you would ever be happy if you didn’t try it [New York City] out.”

She’s amazing and I love her.

Today was jam packed. I started off in the morning with my normal workout. Except this time, I didn’t have my personal trainer, Tony, with me. Instead, Tony had made a workout regiment consisting of painful exercises focusing on my core muscles. After that, I cleaned up and headed home to work on my 2006 taxes. Blech.

In the early evening, I met Bob. Bob and I had been dating since January. He’s a great guy but we recently learned that we’re not really compatible for a long-term relationship. So we did the typical exchange of stuff and had a good drink at Barca together. I loooove Barca and Dawn, one of their early evening bartenders. Dawn makes an amazing drink with Becherovka and Apfel Korn. The latter is much better than the other craptastic apple liquors.

Then…its time to party. Tonight my friends Maryam and Nima threw a big Norooz Persian New Year celebration. It was a collaboration between DiscoParvaaz, their party series, and NWPersians.com. I worked the door decked out in Armani, a black suede hat, and Prada shoes. It isn’t often that I dress up like that but this is a Persian party. Beautiful people. And, there’s typically enough jewelry and fur at these events to pay off a small countries debt. So I wanted to step up my look for the night.

I had a great time. There was a live band, DJs, decorations, and lots of fun and beautiful people. Arial helped me at the door; we ruled and bartered with gusto. That’s he and I, on the left, in the picture. (And what is going on with my mouth? Argh, I stuck my tongue out a little in fun and Maryam caught it. Ha-ha. ) As the night wrapped up, I helped strike and we all went home to bed. No, not all to the same bed.

Tonight I had dinner with my ex from 2000 Kelly, his sister Joy, and her friend Glenn. The latter two were visiting from Philly. It was great catching up with Joy, she’s a good soul. As such, she welcomed me to visit her whenever I want when I get to New York city.

All three of them had tons of questions, comments, discussion, and ideas on my move and the city itself. All of them have lived there before. Later in the evening, we got on a discussion about reality TV, Borat, and gay culture. A really lively fun night and delicious food at Kingfish.

I’ve continued to tell people about my move. Everyone is really supportive and also sad. I’ll miss being close to many of my friends.